Almost Loaded

by Dave Shukan

ANSWER: JUGS

Each set clues six 6-letter words in alphabetical order, using all the letters of the alphabet but one. The clue set itself also uses all but one letter. Placed in the order of the missing clue letters, the missing answer letters spell the phrase LIQUOR HOLDERS PACKED IN MY BOX, giving the answer JUGS (from the well-known pangram).

A

Tinkered or fooled unproductively
Concerning the fifth rock
Province north of the U.S.
Extremely eerie, like with ghosts or zombies
Body segment of mosquito or June bug
Domed hut or tent often covered with hides

Monopolize, very informally
VIP at Aqueduct Race Track
Introductory morpheme
Small jewellike plate that adorns clothes
Codex Vaticanus material
He turned out to be a man behind a curtain

BOGART
JOCKEY
PREFIX
SEQUIN
VELLUM
WIZARD

H

H

Type of turnover
Fraternity rite of passage
Small bus or unlicensed taxi
Piece of miner's equipment used to remove rock
Tentacled ocean denizens
Usually written rejection or surrender of a claim

FUMBLE
HAZING
JITNEY
PICKAX
SQUIDS
WAIVER

O

I

Wordlessly ask someone to approach
Decorated zone of an entablature
Unevenly jutted or sawtoothed
Racquetball analogue
Evocatory of the Everglades
Tornado, for example

BECKON
FRIEZE
JAGGED
SQUASH
SWAMPY
VORTEX

L

J

Orchestra crasher
Forcibly divert a plane
Using a swizzle stick, perhaps
Maker of an extremely uplifting pill
Emit a burst of liquid in a stream
They run in a pack

CYMBAL
HIJACK
MIXING
PFIZER
SQUIRT
WOLVES

D

K

One of a quartet of board game pieces
Sudden mass arrival or flow from outside
Jumble of irregular pieces to be annexed
One of the Nairobi Trio
Twelve
Highly piezoelectric crystal

BISHOP
INFLUX
JIGSAW
KOVACS
MIDDAY
QUARTZ

E

L

Putting a whammy on
Stoked or excited (about)
How Jack jumped
Unit of data sent over a network
Chugs (as with quantities of booze)
Unconstricted speech sounds

HEXING
JAZZED
NIMBLY
PACKET
QUAFFS
VOWELS

R

M

Perplex
Disease that established the word "vaccine"
Radio personality
He wrote just shy of two dozen string quartets
Slake
Norse pirate

BAFFLE
COWPOX
DEEJAY
MOZART
QUENCH
VIKING

S

N

Expire feebly, like a fuse as it gives out
Stored jam, perhaps
Criticize or bellyache habitually
Periodic table member with vital properties
Partially close eyes to improve quality of sight
Bearlike marsupial

FIZZLE
JARRED
KVETCH
OXYGEN
SQUINT
WOMBAT

P

O

What the Snark was
Bulging rather than indented
Sudden alarm
A hundred and fifty-six clues, evidently
Eccentric
Judgely quality that is Zeus' daughter's purview

Aquatic golfing obstacle
Beams that hold up building elements
Vehicle with a cab and a tailgate
Elected city official in an animated TV show
Unjustifiably attack the good name of
Expanding in size

HAZARD
JOISTS
PICKUP
QUIMBY
VILIFY
WAXING

E

S

Country overlapping the equator
Bit of meat that might be found in a tortilla
Extra amount added by retailer
What real men don't eat
Not erotically appetizing
Making a troth or pledge, maybe before a judge

BRAZIL
FAJITA
MARKUP
QUICHE
UNSEXY
VOWING

D

T

Laden railway parallelepiped
Having a dowdy appearance
Keep balls airborne
Used a razor
Sharp call, perhaps from a blue jay
Cinquain, for example

BOXCAR
FRUMPY
JUGGLE
SHAVED
SQUAWK
STANZA

I

U

Seller of wares, perhaps at an Iraqi market
Heavy-handed bozo
It can be direct or indirect
Expanded by air, like the grains in some cereals
Container for shafted projectiles
Alignment of celestial bodies

HAWKER
LUMMOX
OBJECT
PUFFED
QUIVER
SYZYGY

N

V

Extra turn in croquet, or a soup
Bone located just about centrally in humans
Inlets between cliffs
Archaic broadsword
Prize doll trademark
High point

BISQUE
COCCYX
FJORDS
GLAIVE
KEWPIE
ZENITH

M

W

Quiz program priority mechanism
Add feathers to a shafted projectile
Not being serious
Highest values
Aroused or provoked, as anger
Rotate in an executive chair

BUZZER
FLETCH
JOKING
MAXIMA
PIQUED
SWIVEL

Y

X

In a cunning manner
Impasse or crowd
Sleeveless garment
Blue, but not azure
Juan, from the Doyle Dane Bernbach advertising agency
Cricket requirement

FOXILY
LOGJAM
PONCHO
RISQUE
VALDEZ
WICKET

B

Y

Filled pancake
Fused or became liquid, as during soldering
It might join words
Rhizome root often eaten raw as a salad vegetable
Sub-subatomic particles
Expressing farewell with one's hand

BLINTZ
FLUXED
HYPHEN
JICAMA
QUARKS
WAVING

O

Z

Observed
Deadline requiring one to be at home
Objects thrown overboard
Forceful temblors
Existing in a misty state
Witty, piercing comeback